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Santa Cruz Sentinel: 'Tip the Ocean' gives diners a way to donate to coast

Posted on Sep 17th, 2012

DAVENPORT - Patrons at one of the county's premier restaurants, situated along one of the country's premier coastlines, can now tie the two together.

Through a program called "Tip the Ocean," diners at Davenport Roadhouse can volunteer money toward programs to improve the coast. A soft rollout of the program started Saturday - Coastal Cleanup Day - with a formal start during the restaurant's upcoming two-day Oktoberfest by the Sea celebration, which begins Sept. 29.

"They spend all day on the coast, on the ocean, at the beach, and then they come into the restaurant," said Roadhouse owner Helmut Fritz, who bought the restaurant three months ago. "What we're going to say to those people is, 'You've enjoyed it. Can you give something back?'"

Tip the Ocean was the brainchild of ocean scientist and activist Wallace J. Nichols, who has studied the connections between the ocean and well-being. The Davenport resident said he kicked around ways to improve funding for oceans before striking upon the tip idea.